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UNION Championship (RLS Championship)
The UNION Championship ''(formerly the UNION Wrestling World Chamionship)'' is the main male championship fought for in UNION Wrestling, and is recognised by the RLSverse as the "highest championship available in the United Kingdom and Ireland". It was debuted in November 2015 and has been held by a total of 3 superstars. Controversially, despite it's ranking as the highest UK&I honour, it has never been held by anyone born outside of North America. History: The belt was brought in at the beginning of the UK&I Tour in November 2015, and contested in a tournament involving Loic Vincent, Ace, The Maverick, Mayhem, Rafe Daniels, Bobby The Fan and eventual winner and inaugural champion Virgil Baker. Baker was given more than a year to legitimise the belt, facing many challengers and toppling them all on his way to a 53-week run at the top. It was fellow American Ryan Burton who eventually bested Baker at Hardcore Brawl in November 2016. This marked the first time a face had held the championship, with Baker being heel for his entire run. Burton would hold the title for the entire of PWU's hiatuses from streaming in early 2017- with the February revival seeing him defeat Baker again at PWU Capitol Punishment 2017- appearing on live shows and defending the title sporadically against Loic Vincent, Mayhem and Zodiak. Upon the return to streaming, Broderick ended up ending Burton's reign at PWU Money In The Bank on the 3rd May 2017. The Canadian retained the title against Burton at European Invasion 2017 on the 20th June, and again for the final time at The UNION Wrestling Classic in July 2017. The Cowpoke attempted to win the Championship, as well as gaining revenge on Broderick for attacking his then-GM father Eddie Hamer, at Open Challenge 2017, but failed and hospitalised for his efforts. The Maverick challenged for the title at Heavy Metal 2017, losing in a valiant effort before revealing himself to be in league with Virgil Baker, who cashed in his Banker Case to become the first ever multiple time champion in UNION Wrestling. In late-October, the title was confirmed to be renamed the UNION Championship, with it's lineage and current holder remaining unaffected. Reigns: *=Includes live, not-streamed matches either at special events or events held during the streaming hiatuses. Trivia: * Like all officially recognised RLSverse titles, the reigns were measured in weeks rather than days until August 2017, with the final day before completing a full seven considered the day another week is added to the total. Therefore, as Ryan Burton lost the title a few days before the week changed over, he held for only 28 despite being just closer to 29. From August onwards, reigns for all UNION Wrestling championships switched to # of Defences to further separate UW from other promotions. * Virgil Baker revealed in an interview in October 2017 that he enjoys cleaning the title's front and side plates, and that he actually bought a custom made "cleaning kit" online. UW World Championship (RLS)